How to Get Rid of Bad Backlinks in Record Time with Monitor Backlinks

1. Gather Your Site’s Backlink Data

From there, you can start the process of finding and removing bad links.

You have two options to complete this step.

Option 1: Let Monitor Backlinks do it for you

The first option is to let Monitor Backlinks compile your list for you.

Here’s why that’s a good idea:

Monitor Backlinks uses Google’s Analytics referrals and Ahrefs API to compile your site’s list of backlinks—two of the most trusted backlink sources. Which translates into confidence that your backlink list will be as complete as possible.

It also explains why I recommend this option even if you’re migrating from other backlink monitoring software.

To let Monitor Backlinks automatically generate your backlinks list for you, you’ll first need to sign up for Monitor Backlinks if you haven’t done so already. There’s a free trial available here.

Once you’ve signed up, you’ll need to add your domain to your Monitor Backlinks account by clicking the “Add New Domain” button at the top-left of your dashboard:

Then, choose to use Google Analytics:

(Note: This step is optional. But if you want to take advantage of Analytics referrals data, then I highly recommend you choose to add your domain using Google Analytics.)

Once you’re finished, Monitor Backlinks will import all links that are currently pointing to your site (one link per domain).

Option 2: Import a backlink list from another source

If you’re not currently using another backlink monitoring service, then you can skip this option.

But if you are, then you might want to import your backlinks from that service to your Monitor Backlinks account.

To do that, you’ll need to start by downloading your backlinks list as a .csv or .txt file.

(Virtually every backlink management program should have this feature. And shame on them if they don’t.)

Once you’ve downloaded the list to your computer, your next step is to click the “Import” button in the Your Links module of Monitor Backlinks:

After you do this, you’ll see this box:

Here’s how you’ll want to proceed:

1. Click here to find and upload the .csv or .txt file you just downloaded from your previous backlink monitoring software.

2. Add any tags you’d like to use to label these backlinks (for example, if you’re importing a list from Ahrefs, you could use the tag “Ahrefs” to denote their origin).

3. Define the max number of links per domain (I recommend setting this to 1 to avoid site-wide backlinks).

4. Check “Live Links Only” to import only links that are still active.

Once you’ve performed one or both of the above options, you should see a complete list of your site’s backlinks in the Your Links section of your Monitor Backlinks account:

With that finished, it’s time to move on to how to find the bad backlinks you’ll want to get rid of.

2. Find and Tag Bad Backlinks

It’s no secret that Google’s picky about their links and strict on the definition of a quality link.

And for good reason.

At the end of the day, Google cares about sending its users to quality pages that are relevant to their search queries. And using backlinks as a ranking indicator has been a top priority for them since their inception.

So, your job as an SEO is to make sure your site’s pages are filled with quality backlinks that tell Google your site is worth paying attention to.

But for now, let’s talk about how to find the bad backlinks that are bringing your site down.

I highly recommend that you take advantage of Monitor Backlinks’ tagging feature for this bit. Tag every potential spam link you find in the following steps, so you can easily come back to them later and get rid of them.

All you have to do is click the checkbox beside the link you want to tag…

…and click the “Add Tags” button at the top of your backlink list:

Then, type in the tag you want to associate with the link…

…and click the “Add Tags” button.

You can give a single link multiple tags, so tag as much and as often as you need.

Now, here’s what you need to look for in the Your Links section of Monitor Backlinks to find bad backlinks:

In which case, wait a couple of days and then check the link in Monitor Backlinks to see if it’s been removed. If it hasn’t, reach back out to the contact or move on to Option 2.

2. They do not agree to remove the link or do not respond.

Don’t waste your time and energy on reaching out to the contact again. Simply move on to Option 2.

Option 2: Submit a disavow file to Google

If reaching out to the site owner or webmaster doesn’t pan out, then it’s time to disavow the link.

(Remember: This option should be used as a last resort.)

Disavowing a link means that you’re telling Google to ignore that link when cataloging that page’s backlinks.

But you won’t need to submit each individual link to Google for disavowing. Instead, you’ll gather all of the URLs and domains you wish to disavow into a single text file and submit that file to Google once.

Disavowing can be a bit intimidating for some site owners… especially if it’s their first time doing it.

After that, click “Send To Google” to be taken to your site’s Google Search Console where you can follow the steps to submit your disavow file to Google.

Keep in mind that disavowing won’t happen as soon as you submit the file.

It can take Google several weeks to recrawl your site and actually remove the links. So be patient.

There’s no other way to say it…

If you don’t know how to get rid of bad backlinks on your site, you’re throwing away any chance you have of running a successful SEO campaign.

Bad backlinks are inevitable and they’ll hurt your rankings if not handled properly.

You need to have the knowledge and tools to perform a simple backlink analysis on your site.

Now, with the knowledge in this post and a free Monitor Backlinks trial account, there’s nothing holding you back from creating an inviting link profile and catapulting your site to the top of Google’s rankings!

Written By

Ty is the founder and owner of TyWrites.com. He specializes in B2B blog writing, content marketing, and SEO. When he's not helping B2B businesses engage their site visitors, you can find him reading, playing roguelikes, and building Lego towers on the floor with his son.